Just Another Day
by MzShellSan
Summary: A day in the life of Lin featuring: Lin dealing with Luella being overbearing, Noll being insufferable, Madoka plotting, and Mai being hopelessly in love with Noll (and him not noticing). Day 2 of FicMas 2019, dedicated to Waitingforjudgement.


**25 Days of FicMas**

**Day:** Two

**Dedication: **Waitingforjudgement

**Fandom: **Ghost Hunt

**Pairing: **Lin/Madoka, Background Mai/Naru. Lin centric

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Ghost Hunt

**Just Another Day**

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If Lin had to choose a favourite time of the day, he would pick the morning without a second thought. It was often the only time of the day he usually got a moment to spend entirely on his own, and it was when things were calmest. He would wake up early and go on a jog, running through his Qigong when he reached the park.

It was peaceful, and without it, he wasn't sure he would be able to make it through the day.

Afterwards, Lin would return to the apartment he shared with Noll and shower. By the time he'd done that, Noll will be awake and sitting in the dining room with a cup of tea and a book, a second cup sitting across from him. He never tells Lin that he makes it for him; Lin always knows that it is.

Instead of bringing attention to this fact and potentially deterring Noll from ever doing it again though, Lin lifts the cup and simply drinks it.

It's only once they've both had their first cup of tea that they head into the office for the day. Often, things will stay silent between them, neither of them feeling the need to break it with meaningless chatter.

Then, Lin will settle into his office and start his work for the day – just as he had today.

Sighing mentally, he hit save on the document he was currently working on. At eight o'clock on the dot, his phone began to ring, and this time he didn't bother to keep his sigh internal, reaching to pick it up.

"Hello."

He didn't bother with the Japanese, already positive about who would be on the other end.

"Lin! How are you today? I know the day's only just getting started for you, but I thought I would check in. How's my son? He hasn't been giving you too much trouble has he?" Luella rambled off immediately.

Rolling his eyes, Lin sighed. "Noll is fine, just like he was yesterday and the day before," he informed her. "He hasn't caused me any more trouble than usual."

He could practically picture the pout on the middle-aged woman's face. For someone in her forties, she was very much still a child.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm bothering you with my nonsensical worries, aren't I?"

Yes.

"Not at all," he lied.

There was a laugh on the other end, before Luella sighed. "Liar. I am sorry – I just miss him and worry about him."

Lin snorted. He was well aware of that fact.

"I'll try to call less."

No, she wouldn't. She said the same thing every day and it never made a difference.

"You could always just call Noll directly," he reminded patiently, just as he had every day before.

"Don't be ridiculous," Luella scoffed, "I'd be lucky if he even answered the phone."

But did that mean that it was better to bother _Lin_? He didn't think so.

"I need to get back to work," he hinted.

"Right, of course. I should be heading to bed anyway. Take care and let me know if either of you need anything."

"Of course," Lin agreed, before putting down the receiver, lest Luella try and drag the conversation on even longer.

With that taken care of, he settled in to work until lunchtime.

The time passed quickly, and before knew it, it was almost ten past twelve. Sighing, he saved his current document and briefly left the office to grab some food. He wasn't overly hungry – neither Noll nor he were big eaters – but Madoka tended to get upset if she found out that he wasn't eating regularly.

Returning to the office after picking up some sushi from a small nearby restaurant that did takeaway, he ducked into Noll's office. The younger man barely paid him any mind, simply nodding in thanks when the small plastic container is placed next to him.

Settling into his own office, he polished his food off quickly before returning to his work.

Afternoons were when things started to get noisier. Some days they'd have a couple of interviews, other days (like today) it would be quiet up until the moment Mai got in for work.

As if on cue, the door opened out in the office and Lin heard said girl call out hello.

"Sorry I'm late!"

He snorted internally. It was the same thing she said every day. If Noll wasn't so soft towards her, he would've changed her designated hours already – clearly it was impossible for her to make it here on time given the current schedule.

Of course, the one time he'd suggested it Noll had just insisted that then she'd be even _later_, which was such a transparent excuse, but he'd let the younger man have it. It was good to see him show care – in his own way of course.

"Tea!"

Rolling his eyes, Lin resigned himself to the argument that was sure to happen in five minutes time over said tea and took the moment to check his texts. Madoka had only sent him two pieces of gossip today – she must have been thoroughly bored at work.

His lips twitched at the thought.

Sending off a quick response, he sighed internally when he heard the door to Noll's office open.

As expected, not a minute later there was the sound of angry footsteps and the slam of a door.

"Naru, you jerk!"

Shaking his head, Lin opted to turn back to his report for Martin and finish it off, only to find himself interrupted by a small knock a moment later.

"Yes?"

Opening the door, Mai peeked around the corner and smiled brightly at him. "Afternoon Lin-san. I thought you might need some coffee..."

His lips twitched a little. Trust Mai to have noticed that in the afternoon he prefers a cup of coffee to keep him going until the day ended, as opposed to a cup of tea which didn't seem to have the same effect on him.

As she set the cup down, she smiled even brighter when he nodded at her in thanks.

"I'll let you get back to work."

With that she turned around and exited the room, door clicking shut behind her quietly.

Reaching for the cup his lips twitched again when he noticed that she'd put a couple of biscuits on the saucer for him.

How so very _Mai-like_. Thoughtful to a fault.

He was amused at the thought of Noll receiving the same thing. His charge detested most sweets, something Mai almost definitely had taken notice of, but he would bet anything that she'd found something that even he would eat.

(He was almost positive that Noll would eat it if Mai gave it to him anyway.)

From there, the rest of his afternoon passed in silence and he managed to get through all of his work with relative ease, and before he knew it, night had fallen.

Checking the time, Lin sighed when he realised that it was almost six-thirty. They should've packed up a while ago. If nothing else, usually he would have heard Mai leave by now.

Getting up from his desk, he stepped into the main office and couldn't help his smirk when he immediately noticed two things.

Firstly, Mai had fallen asleep. Not unusual, but she's usually caught before now.

Secondly, Noll was standing next to his office around a metre away, just watching. Shaking his head, he could have snorted at how ridiculous the idea of the younger man being lovesick was – and yet here they are.

Finally, Noll stepped closer and shook Mai's shoulder.

"If you don't get up, I'm docking your pay."

Rolling his eyes mentally, Lin could have scoffed. There was no way he would, but the threat seemed to be enough because a moment later Mai was shooting up looking very disorientated.

When he noticed the unimpressed look on Noll's face, she smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry."

Rolling his eyes, Noll raised an eyebrow.

"Hurry up. It's late*, we'll drop you back to your apartment."

Mai blinked before shaking her head quickly. "No, no, I'll be fine on my own," she denied instantly.

"Not a negotiation, Mai."

Well, Noll's delivery could use some work but at least the thought was there – right?

"But-" She was cut off when Noll walked away, shrugging into his jacket, clearly ready to leave.

Returning to his office, he grabbed his things from his desk, shoving them into his pockets before shutting the door behind himself; ready to leave.

In that time Noll must have done something to upset Mai further because she was pouting. Internally he shook his head at how ridiculous they were.

"Naru."

Noll narrowed his eyes at the name, and Lin smirked internally at how it annoying his charge found the name. Of course, he couldn't really complain because it was the name _Mai_ had given him, and it though he was pained to admit it, Lin had struggled with remembering to call Noll by anything other than his English nickname.

Mai dubbing Noll 'Naru' had greatly lessened his concern for accidentally outing who they were.

(He wasn't willing to think further on that subject, however, because part of him winced with guilt in knowing that they were lying to Mai; despite knowing that she would never tell anyone who Noll was if they didn't allow it.)

Stepping out of the door, he tuned out the background bickering of Noll and Mai, making his way to where their car was parked instead.

Despite the way he'd gone about it, Noll had a point about how late it had gotten, and he didn't particularly want Mai wandering around at this time of the night either.

Of course, she didn't seem to agree because she was trying to slip away from them, obviously intending to go and take the train regardless. He didn't have to worry though because she barely got a couple of steps before Noll grabbed her wrist and dragged her back towards where he was standing next to the car.

"Idiot."

"Jerk."

_'Children.'_

Sighing, Mai seemed to give up, climbing into the back with her cheeks puffed out.

Rolling his eyes mentally, Lin slipped into the driver's seat, starting the car and setting off a moment later.

Honestly, Mai's apartment complex wasn't even out of the way for them and it wasn't long before he was pulling up in front of it and she was getting out.

"Good night, Lin-san, Naru. Thank you for the ride."

Noll snorted next to him and he couldn't help but agree.

"Good night Mai," Noll said finally.

Glancing over at his charge, Lin sighed at how fond Noll looked even though he was rolling his eyes.

He waited until Mai had gotten inside before he pulled away from the curb and headed back to the main road. It was silent in the car, and he couldn't have been more pleased with the chance to finally have some quiet.

It lasted until they got home, Noll heading to the bathroom immediately and leaving Lin to start some dinner. He wasn't the best cook, but his charge was absolutely _hopeless_ in the kitchen, so it was either this or getting take-out.

He'd gotten sick of take-out very quickly.

Putting on some rice, he fried up some chicken to go with it to make a simple meal for them both.

While he waited for the rice to cook, he turned his attention to his phone. At night he usually video called with Madoka while he ate dinner.

He thought it was ridiculous, but it kept her happy, so it was a small enough price to pay. Usually he would just eat while she chattered away about everything that had happened that day.

Tonight would be no different.

Plating up dinner, he covered Noll's and took his own to their small table. Opening his personal laptop, he wasn't surprised when he noticed Madoka's online status.

Hitting the call button, he didn't have to wait long for her to respond, her face appearing after a moment.

"Koujo! I have the best news. You know Maria and Caleb?"

Relaxing, Lin let her voice wash over him, nodding and making noises at the appropriate moments as he ate his food.

"How was your day?" Madoka asked after she'd been chattering away for a while.

Setting his empty bowl aside, Lin shrugged. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Mai and Noll didn't figure out that they were in love and proclaim it to each other?" Madoka joked.

He scoffed. That would be the day.

"Yeah, I didn't think so. Do you think those two will ever figure it out?"

God, he hoped so. "We just need to be patient."

Madoka snorted. "We're going to be waiting for ages."

Recalling how Noll had looked at Mai earlier that day, Lin hummed. "Maybe."

He could barely make out how her eyebrow raised at him in response. "Oh? Do tell?"

"I just think that they're closer to figuring it out then they seem."

Madoka hummed. "Maybe. Or maybe they just need a little _push_."

Shaking his head, Lin's lips twitched. "Let them do this in their own time."

Pouting, Madoka sighed. "Fine. It's getting late for you, isn't it?"

Lin shrugged, "I can stay up for a while longer if you want."

Madoka sighed again. "No, no. You need your rest to deal with those two idiots. We can talk more tomorrow."

Reluctantly he had to agree. They'd been on call for over an hour already and as he always got up early in the morning he tended to sleep early as well.

"I love you."

Madoka beamed at him, bright and beautiful just like she had the first time he'd said it to her.

"I love you too. Sleep well."

With that he ended the call, missing his girlfriend a little.

Grabbing his bowl, he washed it up quickly before leaving it to dry and heading to go through his night routine.

Before long he was laying in bed, slowly falling asleep.

It had been a long day, and tomorrow?

Tomorrow he would do it all again.

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*Please note that while Naru and Lin may think that this time of the evening/night is late, in Japan this would be a perfectly normal time for a school girl to be heading home and Mai really doesn't have any issues heading home on her own at this time. They weren't just 'token protests'.


End file.
